Physic Defiance and Fighting Dude
by Bagleworm
Summary: A small tale of one of the first adventures of the duo.


"Accidental discoveries are always the most impressive."

The words of her high school science teacher had haunted her for the remainder of her life. Frustratingly, these words had proven true throughout her career as a scientific theorist. Years and months and days counted for nothing as one theory was blown to pieces, while another was discovered as she burnt her morning toast.

"Tisk Tisk."

These words had also haunted her for the greater extent of her life. Through sarcastic praise and unhidden hatred, Alexis Canning had scraped a life out of the scraps provided her. Yes, she was educated, intelligent and relatively good-humoured; but she had the worst luck of any person she had ever met. Layoffs, explosions, alien invasions and burnt toast accounted for the worst, but Fighting Dude had to be up there somewhere.

"Tisk Tisk, Fizzy. You know better than that." He chastised her, a crooked grin spreading on his chiselled face.

"In _theory, _this should work. It would be the most useful thing since police drones!" It was frustrating. Months and days and hours, all for nothing. It had worked perfectly in the lab, exquisitely. Why not now?

"Reality kicks Theory's ass, Fizzy. Brawn over brains, as I'm sure you know."

Physic Defiance stomped her foot impatiently, growled something about Fighting Dude's intelligence and a rock, and half-heartedly lifted a Skull into the air. The thug landed with a grunt and passed out cold, as Physic turned her attention to the three brutes Fighting Dude was handling. One-two-three, they fell to his devastating kicks. He stood back, ran a casual hand through emerald hair, and faced his companion.

"C'mon, toots, no need for the long face. The sun is out, the birds are singing, and we got the rest of the warehouse to clear. Not to mention this."

Physic snatched the scrap of paper out of his hands, and mouthed along as she read the sloppy writing. Momentarily forgetting her previous concerns, Physic met Fighting Dude's eyes.

"This... This is incredible. We could topple the whole Skull pyramid with one hit!"

It seemed that Fighting Dude was the luckier of the pair. He had pulled the most sought-after treasure in the whole of Paragon off of a common Gravedigger. The Dyne supplies line - straight to the top. Of course, the thugs weren't the worst foe they battled; but they were a growing menace to the lives of the citizens, not to mention the teens they recruited with unmatched ferocity.

"Don't forget the Trolls." Fighting Dude broke in, pleased to see that she was excited.

"The Hellions."

"And the Outcasts."

"Even the Family." Physic breathed, totally lost in the moment. Fighting Dude was rather doubtful about this one – and he said so, much to Physic Defiance's displeasure.

"The Family? They're untouchable. You try to get 'em, and you're provided with a stylish pair of cement shoes, and an invitation to go BASE-jumping. Without the parachute."

Physic shook her head, knowing that he was telling the truth, but too stubborn to admit that she knew that. They were heroes, after all. Heroes could do anything - as long as they were prepared in advance.

At this, she frowned at her hands, where a long loop of metal and delicate wiring lay, defying her every attempt to make it do something. Anything. Even a little glowing spark would be nice.

But in the lab it had worked. It had done amazing tricks; it had practically started dancing and breaking into song.

"Why doesn't this work!"

The urge to throw the contraption to the ground was fighting fiercely with the urge to start crying. She contented herself with a resigned sigh and small foot stomp.

"Well, obviously you didn't make it right."

Fighting Dude was already around the next corner, and his words drifted over, almost lost in the sounds to steel boots connecting with flesh. Physic hurried over to help, snapping the belt back in place.

_Toast._

The word floated inexplicably in her mind, where it settled among thoughts of malfunctioning technology, Fighting Dude having a bad-looking cut on his arm, chicken for dinner tonight, and baseball bats and how much pain they caused.

_Toast._

There it was again. Something was nagging at her, and it had to do with breakfast. With this morning's breakfast, and the power surge that had caused it to be burnt.

Power surge? Where did that come from?

She had only left the bread in too long when she had been testing her belt.

Then again, the lights had flickered. Maybe she was on to something.

-----

"Oh!" she exclaimed, rather surprised at the conclusion of her thoughts. Fighting Dude was lounging against a wall, taking a few breaths before they opened the door that would lead, inevitably, to another large battle. He threw her an inquiring glance, which she failed altogether to catch.

"The First Law. Huh. And here I was thinking I had broke it."

"You're a hero, Fiz. Not supposed to break the law."

Her arms folded themselves momentarily, then unfolded as she took hold of the belt. Physic dropped to the ground, snatched up a knife, and brandished it wildly.

"The First Law of Thermodynamics. 'Energy cannot be created nor destroyed, only changed in form.' Physics 101." Physic Defiance brooded over her piece of equipment, Fighting Dude eying the knife she held. She suddenly shoved the blade into a crack in the outer shell, and pried open the cover.

After a few moments of urgent re-wiring and mumblings, Physic clipped the belt back in place, scrunched up her nose, crossed her fingers, and pressed a button.

"Gah!"

Fighting Dude leapt back as his body drained a small amount of energy into the air, where it immediately transformed and washed over Physic's form, healing some of the wounds she had and filling her with both energy and happiness.

She grinned at him, and made a mental note to make it so it drains from enemies only. It had, however, worked. It was a shame she had been required to destroy some of the more interesting bits of wiring and code, but they would eventually be replaced.

The point was, it had worked.

Fighting Dude frowned and then turned to the door. The afternoon faded away to the sounds of crane kicks and bodies hitting the floor.

----

Two days later, Physic was chatting amiably at Fighting Dude, who was trying hard not to say anything sarcastic. They were about to visit the address that the scrapper had found, where, supposedly, there was the largest Dyne production and distribution depot of all. Where all the top pushers of each gang, as well as some representatives from the elusive Family business, gathered to look over their stock.

"You see, when I tested it out, I didn't realise the thing was pulling energy from the appliances around the Lab. That's why the lights flickered, and that's why my toaster short circuited and burnt my toast. It was just a matter of getting the device to find a source of energy other than from Paragon Electric."

Physic patted her new device with a smile. It was all polished and ready – and the button activator was no longer needed. She was now able to control it with her mind, in the same was her gravity-defying devices were controlled. Fighting Dude nodded suitably and then launched himself into the air, vaulting over a building.

Physic sighed and disappeared in a flash of light. She felt her way blindly through the fabric of Space/Time, found a hold on the correct dimension, and grabbed it. There was a moment of sickening worry as she reappeared in a place wholly unfamiliar, but that passed as she realised what it was. She spun around, away from the flashing wall of plasma that separated the sectors of the city, and looked towards her destination. She disappeared again, arriving a few moments after Fighting Dude.

The building was large. It was grey. It was, apparently, an abandoned building that used to be used in shipbuilding; or, at the least, the construction of something very large. Now, it was the base of operations for several mobs and drug dealers. Physic eyed the door as Fighting Dude ran a quick turn around the yard.

"S'all clear. Ladies first?"

Physic tried the door, shook her head, and stood aside so the man could kick it in. The heroes slid easily over the threshold and into the reeking hallway. She trotted down the hall, wondering why she had agreed to partner with Fighting Dude again. She found herself asking that a lot, as they were teaming up with a frequency that rather alarmed her. She actually knew where he lived now – not that the knowledge did anything to improve her impression of him. He had recently moved into a section of the sewers, claiming it was private and comfortable.

She mentally shook her head at the thought of it.

He looked concerned about something.

She tried to look concerned too, but only managed a puzzled expression.

He mumbled something, but the words were lost to the noise of running feet and gunshots. Their arrival hadn't gone unnoticed. Physic gasped at the sheer numbers of the mob that greeted them, and instinctively flicked her wrist. The gravity around the feet of the approaching mob thickened, pulling a few to the ground. Others were held fast – the strongest, however, were left unaffected. The duo slid easily into battle mode, knowing they were doomed, but just to stubborn to admit defeat. Yet.

----

"Run, Fizzy!"

The wave of Skulls peaked and Physic went down on her knees. The rain of blows and sledgehammers and knives was massive, and the hero was almost at the breaking point. She was blearily glad for the slight break in the beating, and was a slight bit gladder to gaze upon Fighting Dude's boots.

"Go! Now!" he shouted, clubbing thugs with heavy fists.

The first whispered reply didn't reach his ears, but as Physic struggled to her feet the noise of the battle ebbed.

"Someone's got to cover your ass." She rasped.

Tapping into some deep, final reservoir of strength, she concentrated on the power of her new invention, which buzzed happily and channelled the energy of the surrounding thugs into the heroes' bodies. She felt the power grow inside her, felt renewed and alive again. Fighting Dude grunted in surprise, but Physic's own mental celebration was cut short as the head of a sledgehammer found the back of her skull.

The noise and stink and the seething crowd melted into a blurry mosaic that assaulted her senses, before reluctantly dissolving into cool, restful darkness.

----

She was facing a strip of tiny stars, moving at dizzying speeds. There was also a peculiar sense of falling, her balance being uncertain and rocky. The tiny stars grew and grew and then, with a slight jerk, began to shrink again. Her skin was cold; the turquoise fabric in tatters, the cool night air rushing in through the gaping holes in her costume.

Some groggy blinks later and Physic Defiance realized that she was looking at a road – the tiny stars were headlights – and that the sense of falling stemmed from the fact that, at the moment, she _was_ falling.

Fighting Dude bounded through the city traffic, leaping over intersections and easily jumping whole blocks. Physic groaned painfully as he landed and sprung again, jolting the slender hero slung over his shoulder.

"How'd we do?" her voice cracked unhappily behind his ear.

"Terrible. I just grabbed you and ran."

The thoughts developed grudgingly in her mind. It took a while but…

"It was a set up."

The matter-of-fact statement was met with a grunt and a shrug. Time passed slowly in the dark air, but she eventually came to her full senses.

"Hey, FD?"

"Humm?"

"I'm awake now."

"… I know. I'm rather missing the silence."

There was an awkward break in the conversation as they passed a sniggering group of Skulls. The gang chortled and waved at the passing heroes, but faded quickly from view. Physic spoke again once they were several blocks away.

"… Could you please move your hand?"

There was a moment of silence, and she realised that the scrapper was suppressing his laughter. When he did answer, his reply brought a bright flush to her cheeks.

"Someone's gotta cover your ass."


End file.
